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Never one to keep life simple...
I'm considering building a rack-mounted version of either an sIII or V6 for studio use. I'm thinking of a 1U rack space chassis for the bulk of the amp, knobs on the front, tubes across the back, board on the chassis floor per the same layout as any build. Because of the obvious space issue with the transformers, this approach would require that at least part of the power supply and output transformer sections be in an external chassis and cabled back to the main chassis. Have any of you ever tried extending the power supply wiring or the wiring between the output tubes and the OT. Where do you think would be the best place to break the wiring (i.e before or after the rectifier, etc.)? The idea is to play and have easy access and control of the amp from the board while monitoring a cab miked up in my iso-booth. Just no room for a head or combo that close to the board, and it's a real drag while working alone to have to go in and out of the booth for adjustments and experimentation. Open to all suggestions and concerns. Thanks everyone.

Joe G

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Some assembly required,
Brain sold separately...

Well, evidently rack mounting an 18 watt is some form of sacrilege... sorry about that. I won't even get into my plans for an 18 watt Leslie

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Some assembly required,
Brain sold separately...

Missed this one. I once had a customer who dreamed of something like that but wanted to feed a Solid State power amp. You would need a separate PSU for this, or design a SS Hi Voltage one.

It's a cool idea actually.

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Stephen
Web: www.trinityamps.com. Facebook: facebook.com/trinityamps. Twitter: @trinityamps

Can you think of any reason(s) that the power supply section and OT couldn't be about a meter or so from the rest of the amp if the HV were well shielded and isolated from the other wiring? It would be great if I could rectify (and maybe add a VRM) at the PSU to free up some room to fit all the tubes required for a V6 on the rack unit. What a great and versatile studio amp this would be in that configuration. Great also for reamping. See, now my wheels are turning...
Thanks!

Joe G

_________________
Some assembly required,
Brain sold separately...

I agree, this is a great idea. The tubes are mounted sideways and OMG the HEAT, damn. I mean even using a fan (which, of course, will introduce sound and I own a Soldano 12" combo with a fan) how much heat can a fan transfer out of a case 2" high? And then can you cool the tubes evenly. If you don't, then you put additional stress on the tubes and therefore, early failure.
Now, I've seen 1 before. Problem is, I don't remember where.
But, I think the worst problem is as stated above.

I can truly imagine a V6 or TC as a rack-mount.
Must investigate further.
Hey funny, I'm starting to type without hitting spell check every time, YEA.

Thanks for the input Jac. I was thinking of mounting the tubes straight out off the back panel, external to the rack case. It would essentially be a thin combo-style chassis mounted horizontally with a 19" rackmount faceplate. I don't like burning tubes this way but the specs say "any position" is ok. You're right though, it would be generating a lot of heat in my equipment rack, although it's all open back anyway in the studio. It is probably a better ventilated environment than inside a head or combo when you think of it.
BTW... I hit the spellcheck all the time as well! Are you using a Mac by chance??

Joe G

_________________
Some assembly required,
Brain sold separately...

Okay, I don't get it? What does hitting spellcheck half to do with a "Mac"??????

Ya know what... I'm thinking of that stupid Mac help key that's right next to the delete key. I used to hit it by mistake all the time and it took forever to load, quit back out of it, etc. Sorry for the confusion!
And now back to "Rack Mounted Trinity's" already in progress...

Joe G

_________________
Some assembly required,
Brain sold separately...

Hello everyone.

Hey, I have finally broken shekel on my rack-mounted Trinity project. I have the 1u rack chassis in hand and the first of the non-Trinity parts are on a truck somewhere. Once I have my drawings roughed out I will order a v6 kit from the boss and will soon join the ranks of Trinity amp builders!
I'm planning on documenting the build to serve as tutorials for the resource section as well, and hopefully I can put these 3 decades of building experience to good use helping out the newer builders.
I will start posting some pictures as things progress. Stay tuned...♯♫♩♬♪♩

Joe G

_________________
Some assembly required,
Brain sold separately...

Cool. This will be a first. I love firsts!!

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Stephen
Web: www.trinityamps.com. Facebook: facebook.com/trinityamps. Twitter: @trinityamps

Since I'm starting from zip on this project and creating my own chassis and faceplate anyway, I'm now thinking of adding certain features internally, like a "channel link" switch or a provision to do channel jumpering via a footswitch. Is there a preferred channel jumping scheme that most people use, i.e. low to high, high to low, high to high with a Y cable, etc.? It would be nice to be able to just switch in the popular configuration. I can always use an external jumper for the others if needed.
Thanks for your help. I'm sure I'll be needing plenty of it!

joe G

_________________
Some assembly required,
Brain sold separately...